Beware the Turks – With an Eye [Erdogan] on a Renewed Caliphate

Beware the Turks – With an Eye [Erdogan] on a Renewed Caliphate

Turkish *Newspaper Close To President Erdogan Calls To Form Joint Islamic Army To Fight Israel

On December 12, 2017, ahead of the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, the Turkish daily Yeni Şafak, which is close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP party, published an article titled "A Call for Urgent Action,"[1] which also appeared on the paper's website under the title “What If an Army of Islam Was Formed against Israel?"[2] The article called on the 57 member states of the OIC to form a joint "Army of Islam" to besiege and attack the state of Israel. It notes that such a joint army will greatly exceed the Israeli army in manpower, equipment and budget, and presents statistics to prove this. It also advocates establishing joint bases for the army's ground, air and naval forces that will arrive from all over the Muslim world to besiege Israel, while noting that Pakistan, as the only nuclear country, has "a special status" among the OIC countries. An interactive map provides information on military forces stationed in various locations and the role they can play in the potential joint Muslim attack on Israel.

Turkish tourists have begun holding regular visits to [Kever Shmuel], a Jewish prayer space at a holy site outside of Jerusalem, intentionally interfering in the locals’ prayer services in what some say is a bid to push Jews out of the space.

The compound, which is located entirely in Area C, under full Israeli control, and located between Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood and the Givat Ze'ev suburb' is considered sacred by both Jews and Muslims.

The site has been informally divided between the two, with a functioning mosque on the premises and a space designated for Jewish prayer next to the tomb itself. In addition, Muslims have in the past been permitted access to the site used for Jewish prayer around the tomb when it is not in use by Jewish worshippers, and individual visitors have been permitted even at prayer time.

In recent months, however, groups of Muslim pilgrims visiting from overseas have begun disrupting Jewish prayer services at the site on a regular basis, entering the compound as a group, with a guide loudly talking over the Jewish worshippers, before leading the Muslim pilgrims in their own prayers.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
• Memri.org